Car construction.



H. M. PFLAGER. CAR cowsmuc'now.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 5.1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Patented Sept. 10, 1918.

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CAR CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION FILED JAN. .5. 191d.

Patented Sept. 10, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

HARRY M. PFLAGEB, OF'ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOB T0 COMM COMPANY, OFST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION 05' a CAB CONSTRUCTION.

I! Specification of Letters Patent.

Paltent Sept. 10, 1918..

Appliation filed January 5, 1918. Serial No. 8103:50. I J 1 sideelevation showing my improved car construction.

2 is a top plan viewof the same. Fig. 3 1s a side elevational viewpartly in section of one ofthe trucks used in my 1111- provedconstruction.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view partly in horizontal section of said truck.

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view through certain of the parts at thecenter of the truc Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 6-6 of- Thisinvention relates to a new and useful improvement in car construction ofthe ty e illustrated in Reissue Letters Patent 0. 14,221 dated November28, 1916, the original of which, Patent No. 1,147,430, was

granted July 20, 1915. In the construction shown in the said originaland reissue Letters Patent granted to me upon the datesbefore-mentioned, the weight of the car body including the load issupported at the four corners of-the car.

My present invention has for its object to provide means fordistributing the load ofthe car on the journals when unusual trackconditions exist.

I prefer to provide this means in the form of a spring or springs,auxiliary to the main carrying springs, the auxiliary springs beingcapable of greater deflection and greater recoil travel than the mainsprings, so as not to aifect the height of the drawbar from-the track.

In the form of my invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings,the compensating springs are weaker than the load supporting springs, sothat when the latter, which may be" designated as the major springs, areunder normal compression, the compensating spring or spring s, which maybe referred to as the minor spring or springs, are under compression,2'. e. bottled up, the spring follower of the major springs being seatedhome against some solid part of the structure, this home-seating of saidfollower being maintained in normal opera- 66 tions. However, if themain supporting springs are released from compression an have a tendencyto float free, the minor spring will have its energies released so as totake up in part the freedomaof the-majonflo springs, and compress themto the extent that the minor spring assists in supporting the load.

- In the drawings, I have heretofore referred to Figs. 1 and 2 asconventionally 7t illustratin a car body in which 1 is the body of thecar, 2 the wheels, and 3 the track having a depression 3 over which thewheels at the righthand side of Fig. 1 are illustrated in full lines asfloatingover'the so depression, and-in dotted linesas resting upon thetrack in the depression. 1 I

, In Fig. 2, 4 indicates the pivotal point of the truck side frames,these being the points of reaction and showing that the car body 35 ispractically supported at its four corners.

Referring now to the details of construction of my present form oftruck, 5 lndllcates the truck side frame, preferably in the form of asteel casting, in which the so journal boxes .6 are arranged for thereception of the axles 7 on which the wheeels 2 are mounted. This truckside frame is recessed at its upper central portion and 'provided with abearing plate 5 concentric with the recessed portion located in thecenter of the truck side frame in which is arranged aking pin 8, saidking in passing through a tie .bar 9 connecting t e two'side frames.This king pin 8 is provided with a shoulder or collar 8*, as shown inFig. 5, and extends upwardly therebeyond so as to provide a connectionwith the spring follower plate 10. This spring follower plate 10hasnipples 10.disposed around its upjoint permitting a slight universalmovement of the truck side frame. The spring follower has an upwardlyextending hollow stem 10 which is received in a downwardly extendinghollow ste! n 12 of a casting 12, the latter being riveted or otherwisesecured .to the bolster top or bottom cover plate or flange,,as the casemay be, by suitable rivets, as shown in Fig. 3. The tele- "scopicallyarranged stems 10 and 12 permit vertical movement of the respectiveparts with which they are identified, and in order to prevent excessrotary mo'vement,-one of these parts, as 12 (see Fig. 6) may be pro- Itend feathers or longitudinally disposed ribs on the part 10". followerbearing against the u'nderface of casting 13 and provided with nipples14 on '26 its underface for cooperating with the springs for cooperatingwith feathers or longitudi vided with one or more keyways in which ex14" indicates a spring '11 for the purpose of centering the latter.

This follower plate 14 is free to move down- Wardly on vthe stein .12,and in order to prevent excess rotary movement of said follower 14, thesame is provided with recesses nallydisposed lugs 14 on the stem '12. 15

indicates the compensating spring or springsinterposed" between anoutwardly extending flange at the upper edge of casting 12 and anoutwardly extending flange at the lower edge of the spring follower 14.

I The operation of the above described parts is at follows;

Assuming that the car body empty weighs thirty (30,000) thousand pounds,and that there are four groups of supportingsprings I 11 at each cornerof the car, these supporting springs being the usual M. C. B. eight andone-half inch springs, and that each of'which will be compressedapproximately I one-quarter of. an inch under the conditions abovementioned. This load and extent of compression, of these majorsprings will force the spring follower 14 up against the lower face ofcasting 12, thereby compressing and 'holding under compression the minorcompensating springs 15. When the car is loaded,'say to the extent ofthirty thousand (30,000) pounds or more, the majorv springs 11 will befurther compressed,-

- say to the'extent of about one half of an inch each; The:minor'spring15, however, cannot, be further compressed regardless of the amount oflading in the car. Running over a straight even track, the usualinequalities therein will be absorbed by the major springs 11, but inthe event that an abnormal depression in the track is reached and themajor springs 11 reach or approach the point of exhaustion due to thelowered position of the truck wheels in said depression, the minorsprings 15 will cause the spring follower 14 to follow down with theresult that a' portion "of the weight will be trans partially mitted toall the journals. To the extent that pressure is exerted on the journalsby the compensating springs 15, the reaction on the car body isnecessarily co-extensive and the car body is thus supported at thispoint in proportion to the reacting power of the stored-up energies inthe compensating springs. The strength of the compensat ng springsrelative to the load supporting springs in a sense depends upon the willof the designer, and while I prefer that the major supporting springs.11 shall cooperate with the spring follower 14 so as to cause the sameto be seated against a solid portion of the car body or transom when thecar is empty, it is obvious that the proportionate strength of the majorand minor springs may be modified or changed as practice may require orthe will of the designer select. In other words, the minor spring may beof such strength that it may assist in sup-. porting the empty car, thespring follower 14 being seated when'the car is loaded.

This, however, is unimportant in the pres ent instance.

It is obvious that minor changes in the size, form and details of thevarious parts of my improved car construction may be made andsubstituted for those herein shown and described without departing fromthe spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in theappended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In-car construction, a car underframe, truck side frames, eachpivotally connected to the underframe, supporting journals, supporting.springs, and compensating devices for distributing the load on thejournals when the supporting springs are released or released from theirload-carrying functions. l

2. In car construction, a car underframe,

truck side frames, each pivotally connected springs, and compensatingsprings normally under compression and whose stored-up energies areutilized to assist in sup-porting the load in the event that thesupporting springs are wholly or partially released from compression.

4. In car construction, a truck side frame having pivotal relation withthe car underframe, said truck side frame being provided with a bearingto receive a spring follower whereby the said side frame may have apivotal movement with respect to said underframe, a member secured tothe underframe and having telescopic relation to said follower, andanother spring follower normally held against said last mentioned memberwhich is secured to the underframe, and springs arranged on each side ofsaid last mentioned follower.

5. In car construction, a truck side frame having a bearing seat, aspring follower arranged in said seat so as to have arocking relationthereto, a casting secured to the car underframe and having telescopicrelation to said spring follower, a second spring follower arranged onsaid casting and having movement in one direction relative thereto, acompensating spring interposed between said last mentioned follower andsaid casting, and load supporting springs interposed between said twofollowers.

6. In car construction, a truck side frame having a concave seat, aspring follower having a convex bearing portion designed to cooperatewith said seat, a king pin, a casting designed to be secured to theunderframe and having telescopic relation to said spring follower, and asecond spring follower designed to be seated against said casting,load-supporting springs bearing upon the underside of said lastmentioned follower to hold it to its seat, and compensating springsinterposed between said last mentioned follower and said casting andwhich are normally designed to be held in compression during the timethat said spring follower is held to its seat.

7 In car construction, a truck side frame having a bearing seat arrangedthereon, a spring follower cooperating with said bearing seat, a castingdesigned to be secured to the underframe of the car and havingtelescopic relation to said spring follower, said casting having ashoulder, a spring follower embracing said casting and designed to bearagainst said shoulder, load-supporting springs interposed between saidtwo spring followers, and a compensating spring interposed between-saidcasting and the uppermost of said followers, said compensating springembracing the major portion of said casting and said spring followerwith which it cooperates.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature this 27th day ofDecember, 1917.

HARRY M. PFLAGER.

the combination of i

